Douglas has been in Idaho with his Uncle and grandparents for the last four days. He is on a plane heading home and I am so excited to see him. He has had a great time, but life is just not the same when he isn’t around. He went out to attend his Uncle Dewey’s graduation with his PhD. They have always been close friends and he really wanted to support him. It was nice for him to spend time in Burley with his grandparents as well. His grandma suffers with dementia and his grandpa does such a great job caring for her. So, he should be home in the next two hours and it will be nice to see him.
We had a fun weekend though. The kids were supposed to have a baseball game on Friday, but it was pouring rain all day and the game was canceled. I had already scheduled to have a sitter for Bennett, so I decided to have her come anyway and I took the kids to see the movie, “The Croods”. It was really cute and they enjoyed it. It was nice to spend time with just the older two kids. We got home and I let them sleep in my room. I had let them the night before too and let Paige sleep on the bed and Jackson slept on the floor. She was such a crazy sleeper though and I was awake so many times that I decided it was better to let Jackson sleep in the bed with me and Paige on the floor. We all slept much better that way!! I stayed up far too late working on some projects though and of course, every time I do that Bennett wakes up extra early. Ugh! So, I was awake much sooner than I would have liked to be. I tried to lay around for a bit, but finally decided it was better to just accept it and get up. So, I made the kids breakfast and we headed out. We went to the gym and the kids went to the child watch while I worked out. It is so nice to be able to have a little break during what I knew would be a long day! It was rainy again and we were destined to a lot of time in the house together, so I was looking for any option to get out!
After the gym I took the kids over to The Home Depot for their kid’s club activity. The first Saturday of each month the offer a craft for the kids and we try to take them. This month it was herb pots. They got to assemble, paint and decorate it. They had a fun time. I grabbed some paint samples while I was there so that I could test out some colors in the kitchen. We are finally going to tile the backsplash and I have finally committed to a color. That seems like a simple thing, but for me it is a huge commitment!
We got home and did a few things around the house. I decided to vacuum the family room and the vacuum (which I bought, for a lot of money, less than a year ago) was acting up again. So, I called the store where I bought it, explained what was going on and they told me I could bring it back. So, we loaded up again and headed to Kohl’s to return it and get a new one. Hooray! Maybe this one will actually suck things up.
I was not quite ready to head home so we decided to head to Five Guys and get burgers for dinner! The kids love Five Guys. Everybody ate well. Bennett had a hot dog and gobbled that down along with fries. He was in heaven. Funny little boy!
By the time we got home it was bedtime. The kids were going to sleep in the fort that they had built, but Paige was a little overtired, and emotional. It ended up being a better idea to just have her sleep in her bed and get a good night rest.
Today was a pretty good day. I made the kids scones and oatmeal for breakfast. They like peanut butter in their oatmeal. It is actually quite tasty.
I had to get some car work done, again this week. It isn’t such a pain to be without a car, but it is a major pain to arrange rides to and from the shop. I have to transport the car seats and, of course, it was raining both days. Paige’s door lock was broken and has been for a while so I finally decided to get it fixed so I can actually lock my car again. Once I got it in there they let me know that my brakes needed to be replaced (I suspected). So, two days and an empty wallet later and it is fixed. Hopefully that will do for a few months at least!
We had two days of sunshine last week which was nice. I was in need of sunshine! I went out to the garden one day and helped plant corn and leeks. Bennett doesn’t last too long at the garden. He has a hard time walking around with all the dirt mounds and starts to get frustrated. He is also starting to drop his morning nap, but isn’t quite ready to do it, so he is still tired in the morning when he doesn’t get a rest.
Speaking of Bennett, he is learning more and more every day. He is saying lots of words. Most I understand, but most other people wouldn’t. He likes to dance in his car seat when there is music on in the car. He loves snacks. He climbs on anything he can find. He makes sure no door is left open…can’t move to another room until all the doors in that room are shut. He gives slobbery, open mouth kisses and will come and snuggle you, if you ask. He still sucks his thumb and loves his blankie. He always takes his shoe off…just one…I have to stay vigilant so we don’t leave it in a store. He loves to find belly buttons. He is so much fun, busy, but fun.
Paige still loves riding her bike. I bought a seat for the baby so that he can ride on my bike and we can go on family bike rides.
Did I ever tell you about our anniversary? We had a fun 10 year anniversary. I made a nice dinner on the actual day. Rib eye steak, roasted red pepper and sun dried tomato orzo pasta, grilled asparagus, homemade rolls and German chocolate cheesecake for dessert. It was delicious. Paige helped me get out my china and silver and we set the table fancy schmancy. They kids loved celebrating with us.
We did go out to dinner the Saturday after. We went to a restaurant recommended by someone Douglas works with. It was a little fancier then what we usually do and I have to admit that we felt a little out of place. It was nice to be out without the kids, but I think in the future we will just keep things a little lower key. We headed over to Home Depot after to look at backsplash tiles for our kitchen.
Jackson got sent to the principal two weeks ago for telling some girl in class about voodoo dolls. He had seen it on a cartoon and asked Douglas about it. Douglas explained it and I guess in his free time he decided it would be a good idea to scare a kid in his class. He spent the afternoon with the principal. Of course, I had to have a consequence for him, but it was kind of silly too. His teacher has just not been a great fit for him. I talked to the vice principal for a long time. She is going to work closely with me to try and find a better fit for Jackson next year. His teacher this year is nice, but she has no time for kids that are free thinkers or question anything. And, that is Jackson. His teacher last year adored that about him. So, hopefully with a little bit of thought and planning, we can get Jackson set up in an environment where he can find more constructive things to do with his free time and a teacher that enjoys him, rather than finds him difficult. I am telling you, though, if things are as bad as they have been this year, I will pull him out and homeschool him. I can’t believe I am saying that, but Jackson deserves a better experience than what he has had this year. He has struggled with a few of the kids in the class too. They pick on him. I know he can be difficult and a know it all, but it breaks my heart that kids are unkind to him. Ugh. So, we will see how things go. Honestly, I think Jackson finishes his work so much quicker than all the other kids and doesn’t find constructive things to do while he waits.
